First item on this morning's news at 07.00. The loss of an airliner and all 66 souls aboard. The usual ill-informed, and sometimes hysterical, press speculation. Bomb? Structural failure? Suicide-cum-murder? Without the wreckage and recorders who, for now, knows. Some reports suggest that the aeroplane turned 90 degrees left and began to descend steeply, before turning through 360 degrees in the opposite direction before disappearing below radar coverage. That first manoeuvre suggests some form of explosive decompression and a deliberately-initiated descent to get down to an altitude where sufficient oxygen was available.
Whatever the cause may our thoughts and prayers be with the victims, their families and friends, and those who have to deal with the aftermath and find out what went wrong.